I originally started this collection of bloggers after our Choice Mom networking event in North Carolina, where I met several women I previously knew only from their blogs.

I also hear from Choice Mom bloggers periodically, such as this Los Angeles-based woman, who has a gloriously raw and honest writing style. You can find her Chasing the Gerber Dragon blog here. Here's a sample:
I know this is going to sound kind of stupid but when I first started looking into artificial insemination one of my early thoughts was, "they let us do this? I mean, they let anyone walk into a sperm bank and impregnate themselves, and nobody stops us?" When I went for my first consultation back in November I was convinced the police were going to break down the door at any moment and arrest all of us...I don’t know why I thought this; I think at the time I was still recovering from the years of truly believing that I could only be a mother if I waited around for some man to choose me to have a baby with. The idea of being able to just choose the time and place and do this all on my own is awesome.

One of the reasons I was so excited about hosting an event in North Carolina was that I would finally get to meet in person someone I've corresponded with for years. Cathi, who first came to my attention through HER blog, which has evolved from her "trying to conceive" to her "being a mom" writing. Her wonderful sense of humor prompted me to feature her in the "Choice Mom Guide to Fertility" book, as well as on this website and in a podcast. I also got to meet her nearly three-year-old girl -- who, when I first got acquainted with her, was still the One Who Refused To Be Conceived. You can find Cathi's Jellybean Mama blog here. Read her March 21st post for a great synopsis of our Raleigh event. Here's a sample of her posts on being a single mom:

How quickly things have fallen apart. It’s only day 4 here in the trenches but it feels like it could be day 14, or 54. The air reeks of Vick’s and sweat and phlegm breath. I barely have the strength to check my boots at night before collapsing, half-dressed and almost already asleep, only to be awoken a handful of hours later by the machine gun patter of toddler feet in the hazy night. I have been fighting for days on little sleep, subsisting on frozen convenience foods...I had no idea the common cold could be so crippling. I had no idea the words ‘I no feel good’, said enough times and at disgusting enough hours, would cause me to want to turn my weapon against my own, or myself."

I was especially pleased to see this woman there. The day before our event she learned that her second IVF did not work, and she wasn't sure she was up for the 1.5 hour drive to Raleigh. Follow her Single Mom 2B blog here. Here's a sample:
"This morning, less than 24 hours after my confirmed failure of IVF2.0, I decided that I couldn't bare to spend the day on my couch crying and feeling sorry for myself...As afraid as I was that in the presence of people I would fall apart and sob uncontrollably, I listened to the resolve mantra I had been telling myself throughout my 2ww...'I have to start living again. I can't let infertility win and continue to take everything in its path.' So I made breakfast, showered, took care of the dogs, I got in the car and drove the 160 miles to Raleigh....As soon as I walked into the Choice Mom conference room, I began to lose my composure. I quickly excused myself, got myself together and went in again.

I'm so glad I went. I met Mikki Morrissette. I also was sitting right next to JellyBean Mama but didn't connect who she was until late in the day... and I got to meet the JellyBean herself... as adorable as she looks in her photos (actually MORE adorable). I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Amy in NC (a blog follower who helped inspire me to overcome my fear and attend the conference) and BunInTheOvenPlease, who is a new blogger and writes eloquently....The discussion and networking was therapeutic. Even the drive was therapeutic. I'm so thankful that today I WON, instead of infertility. Infertility would have kept me on the couch indulging self pity. Instead I took charge, kept my plans, continued to live, made new friends/connections and feel satisfied.

And speaking of the BuninTheOvenPlease blog, here's where she is on her path. Again, a wonderful woman with so much to share in our community:

"Rumor has it that when I was 21, I told my best friend that if I had not found the perfect man by the time I was 40, I would go to a sperm bank, and help myself to some donor sperm. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that my desire to create a loving (two parent) family would be so difficult to manifest, or that I would find myself alone, attempting to become a mother in the most unromantic way possible - feet in stirrups at the RE's office. Four years ago I moved to a very small town in the USA for my job, which more recently I have been enjoying less and less. Sadly it feels as though I have dated the better half the single guys currently on offer, so about 7 months ago I set about starting a family on my own. I just never thought it would be taking me so long - or envisaged the difficulties that would appear along my path."

So...that's just a TINY sample of the wonderful women in our community who are writing about their journeys.

Check them out. Follow the ones who you relate to. Start your own blog, if you haven't already, and share it in the Comments field below.

-- Mikki